Final deadline passes: Todd Akin now officially on the ballot in Missouri

posted at 8:01 pm on September 25, 2012 by Allahpundit

August 21 was the deadline for him to drop out and be replaced by another candidate without needing court approval. He passed. Today was the deadline to drop out with court approval, before the ballots are printed, which makes it effectively the last chance. Another pass.

If you want McCaskill out, this is now the only game in town:

With the deadline for him to exit the race just hours away, Rep. Todd Akin (R-Mo.) reaffirmed his commitment to staying in the race, saying that he has “one purpose going into November, and that’s replacing Claire McCaskill.”

Akin said he’d be staying in because Missouri voters — both in nominating him and in conversations he’s had while traveling the state — said they wanted him as their nominee.

“You are mainstream Missouri. We want you, Congressman Akin, as our senator, and particularly we want you now because we know that people can’t buy you and that you’re going to stand up for this state and this country and not be bought by any special-interest group,” he said people have told him, at a press conference on Tuesday.

Said one Missouri GOP strategist, “God has spoken: Todd is running.” Daily Kos’s pollster, PPP, took heat when it released a poll shortly after the “legitimate rape” comments that showed Akin within a point of McCaskill despite the backlash; the theory was that they were trying to encourage him to stay in the race, knowing that he’d be easier to beat than some other Republican. For what it’s worth, though, here’s what they said this afternoon on decision day:

If I did Intrade I’d put some money on Akin, I think he has a very decent chance of winning

Rasmussen had McCaskill by six as of two weeks ago, but there are two big X factors in play. One: McCaskill’s been holding back to some extent on hammering him with the “legitimate rape” stuff for fear of driving down his numbers to the point that he’d quit the race. Now that he’s locked in, she can stop holding back. And lo and behold, here’s a massive oppo dump and new campaign ad released just this afternoon. The next round of polls will be interesting.

Two: Conservative groups have been holding back on donating to him in hopes that starving him of money would kill his campaign before the deadline. Akin’s bet all along was that they were bluffing — and it looks like he was right. Jim DeMint’s PAC issued a statement today noting that “circumstances have changed” now that the deadline’s passed. Newt Gingrich, who’s been out in front lately in stumping for Akin, predicted yesterday that by mid-October all the major Republican groups will be kicking in. Reince Priebus swore last month that the RNC wouldn’t give him a penny even if the race is tied, but given the GOP’s fortunes in Senate polling lately, there’s simply no way RP will let an opportunity pass. (The way the Bill Nelson/Connie Mack race is shaping up in Florida, Akin may well end up getting some of the money earmarked for Mack.) Thanks to Missouri’s red trend, McCaskill’s mediocrity, and troubles elsewhere, this seat may still end up being one of the best pick-up opportunities for the GOP, notwithstanding the “legitimate rape” kerfuffle. Go figure.

Blowback

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Akin will win because while he may be the lesser of two stupid people, he is not “evil”, while Claire is both stupid and evil.

Replayed from the headlines

What is causing this sudden collapse? Are we seriously going to fail to take any Senate seats and lose to the worst president in history?
Doomberg on September 25, 2012 at 4:19 PM

What’s happening is that conservatives and small govt voters are depressed by not having a candidate in the POTUS, senatorial and /or possibly even at the house level races.
Why should they go vote if the top two or three races relevant to their district is a choice between a flaming liberal and a progressive (R) (Romney Mack etc) and/or an old time GOPe retread (Thompson)? Where is our bold bright line between the Democrats and anti-democrats? Instead we’re offered pastel shades that overlap nuanced progressive crap.
Thanks to our nation as a whole turning its back on God, maybe we need to fall further into the abyss yet before we repent. So be it. Brethren gird up your loins, the next four years will be a wild ride regardless who wins. But without repentance there is no bright future to look forward to. PERIOD.

And shame on Reince Preibus… Love that guy but to abandon a viable challenger over a remark that might have “insulted” the obama campaign’s message?

yeah, let’s just throw the Senate.

Idiots.

Key West Reader on September 25, 2012 at 8:09 PM

Indeed. I heard him tell Mark Levin just the opposite, that he would not leave Akin hanging if he ended up staying in the race. I guess we’ll lose, but we’ll be pure. Yea, us.

It’s sort of like voting for Romney, you’re not crazy about the guy but what’s the alternative?

idesign on September 25, 2012 at 8:14 PM

I remember right after Romney had the nomination locked up, one of his biggest supporters said he wasn’t really all that conservative. I said, so he’s a liar? They said, Yeah, but he’s OUR liar. Akin didn’t say Guam would tip over, he didn’t get caught having gay sex with a House Page. He might be a moron, but he’s OUR moron now. People wonder why we have trouble beating these communists?

I tend to figure it is whiplash voting myself. They try one party, get sick of it, try the other. The key is to not allow them to get sick of you. Reagan knew that trick. Clinton learned that trick. G W Bush, he just got lucky that people did not want to change presidents in a live war. Obama? They should be sick of him… They should be, and I think they are. But then we throw out faded carbon copies of the Democrats as our pick… Now the voters do not get to throw the bums out in their mind, same words as Soros said. Romney, Obama, they are the same to me.

I love seeing the Mittwits squirm over Akin’s candidacy. They have no problem supporting someone who was a die-hard liberal as a governor, with a history of flip-flopping for political expediency, and with a lengthy set of embarassing gaffes. But a social conservative with one gaffe? Oh nellie, then that’s just too much!

Akin’s the candidate. But not to worry, the severely conservative 47 percent haters who don’t care about the very poor that like firing people, and who think the trees are all the right height, can take solace in the fact that the architect of Obamacare and the first governor to ever implement gay marriage who’s previously said he’d be on-board with cap-and-trade is the GOP candidate for POTUS.

Because hey, all of that is eminently more forgivable than one dumb comment.

This Missourian right here will be Voting for Akin! Claire has got to go…a Liberal tool just like her boss Obama

sadsushi on September 25, 2012 at 8:31 PM

I’ll just leave that section of the ballot blank. I am not voting to replace a corrupt moron who won’t listen to her constituents for a another corrupt moron who won’t listen to his constituents. I guarentee you that if he makes it into the Senate, he will make us all sorry he ever existed for the next 6 years.

Here’s an idea! Why don’t we let the voters in Missouri decide?

………

JPeterman on September 25, 2012 at 8:27 PM

Because several nutjobs (asteronii) think they, who live outside the state, no better than those of us who actually live in the state. That or his bitterness has corrupted him.

If we take to supporting disgusting people just because they have an “R” next to their name, we are no better than the dems.

Hard Right on September 25, 2012 at 8:22 PM

So he’ll be the junior senator from Missouri. We’ll probably never hear from him again after the election. Trying to be “better” than the dems is what got us into this mess to begin with. He gets a 97% conservative rating, but he said one stupid thing and it’s better to have McCaskill win?

We shall see how much. I’m betting Akin lost huge numbers of the women’s vote. That would be enough to sink him by itself.

I’m a woman, and if I couldn’t vote for any man who said or did something stupid, I would have to sit home every election. Conservative women are not stupid or thin-skinned enough to blow this just because some old guy has a stupid idea about our eggs.

Just read your comment you linked to. For the most part, I agree. However, for this Country to even have a chance, Romney must win.
Trying to elect Senate & House members this year and making a change in Speakership of the House is very important. IF we can take the Senate, and get McConnell out of the Leadership we may be able to make some headway. Romney we can work with, Obama we cannot. He won’t even work with his own party most of the time since it’s all about him.

I love both God and Jesus. I think when Jesus Sacrificed himself, that was pretty much the end of God’s Interference in our lives.

It is up to use to make do with what we have.

The reason people whip lash is because they are not happy with the way things are. Different will at least be different, and if they feel bad now, then it is a good chance different might feel good.

We got lots of world tension. The economy, for as far as it fell, did not fall as far as it should have, people can tell there are more shoes to drop. Prices are up, but the government is saying there is low to no inflation, they know better. Incomes are down, and people who are not normally moochers do not want to be on the welfare dime, at all if they can help it. People are feeling horrid, not many smiles at my work, and those guys and gals are not making low salaries as engineers.

I had an evil post on another thread, I liked to it above. Basically, we have pretty bad voters in this nation at the moment. I do not see anything changing for the better until one of two things happens.

We hit bottom and no one will lend us money and we have to grow up or die.

Or some brave politician tells the people the real diagnosis. You cannot transfer wealth from the bottom to the top, or in other words, from young just starting out with very low wealth and low skills to create wealth, to those who have had 45 years of wealth creation and experience and have a vibrant economy and rising standards of living.

You also cannot have improving morals under this scenario either. As parents who are promised uncle sam will steal from the young to give to them in old age do not have as urgent a need to ensure they have let alone teach right children.

I’m a woman, and if I couldn’t vote for any man who said or did something stupid, I would have to sit home every election. Conservative women are not stupid or thin-skinned enough to blow this just because some old guy has a stupid idea about our eggs.

Night Owl on September 25, 2012 at 9:17 PM

I agree. He made a mistake in listening to “some Doctors”. However, he apologized and most likely has a better understanding of the issue now. He’s conservative and that’s more than can be said for some in the Congress now with the R beside their names.

Since it was said that many Dems voted for him in the Primary, then the R’s better get out to vote. The Dems will be all out for Claire in the General.

I would probably be much more liked here if Romney would have been vetted and held to some standard and won…

If you do not like like being called names, not posting is the best way to avoid it.

astonerii on September 25, 2012 at 9:33 PM

Oh, I know they give you a hard time here. However, you explain your reasons very well. Unlike some of the driveby trolls etc. That makes a difference imo.

I remember during the primaries you did a pretty awesome vetting of Romney yourself! Another poster did the same thing and between the two of you and my own research I and others on the threads at least were aware of his shortcomings. But remember, the “higher” powers that be “selected” him and now some of those are not in his corner. Fickle RINOS, LOL

My father believed (back in the 70′s and maybe still) that if you smoked one marijuana cigarette (his words) by yourself, you would die of an overdose. My grandmother told me that if you swallow your gum, it would stay in your stomach and build up into a great big ball over time and kill you.

I don’t live in Missouri, but I have had to vote for Arlen Spector in the past, so I feel their pain! But it’s pretty clear to me that he is better than McCaskill and I would have no problem voting for him just to get rid of her.

Maybe it is because i am not stretching past Hot Air. But it feels as if there are quite a few in here and it makes me feel there are more out there? Think that is it?

astonerii on September 25, 2012 at 9:54 PM

It must be. I read a comment last night that the people at Hillbuzz are talking about how negative it is here at Hot Air. When I think of all the people who showed up for a chicken joint’s freedom of speech rights, or how Scott Walker won in WI, I do believe that the good people in this country are not usually visible. We are busy taking care of stuff, but when it counts, I think most people will do the right thing. I agree with Bluefox, we can push Romney, but we can’t do anything with Obama except hoard food and ammo!

I don’t think so. The people at The Blaze don’t seem to care much about proper spelling and grammar and such, and that irritates me. Ace of Spades scares me. I’m probably not smart enough for American Thinker- LOL! I like the people here, it’s just that it seems the positive stories are less likely to get a lot of comments, so they go with the other stuff.

Apparently Romney did not get vetted by you very well. Not sure how you feel about him. But he said that, in a debate where he was to the left of Teddy Kennedy!

astonerii on September 25, 2012 at 8:36 PM

You certainly like to twist and turn things around a lot. It seems that your main focus here is to try to demoralize people by denigrating our candidate.
Your behavior in that vein is becoming tiresome and trite.

Did Akin drive someone other than his wife off a bridge in Chappaquiddick (or anywhere else)? Seems like someone else did and got to serve in the Senate for an additional thirty years…

Sir Rants-A-Lot on September 25, 2012 at 8:35 PM

That’ll teach me to hit the “Submit Comment” button too hastily. Whereas I previously said a certain senator got to serve (?) in the Senate for an additional thirty years, I should’ve said forty years.

To those of you who are still bound and determined to not support Akin, I have two words for you: John Roberts. We need every last anti-Obamacare vote we can muster up in the Senate. Including Akin’s!

Unlike people like astonerii, some of us have integrity. We won’t vote for guy just because he has an R next to his name.
Akin basically blamed women for getting pregnant when they are raped.
Claiming your support of him means you are a true Conservative is pathetic. It really means you are a mindlessly partisan scumbag.
I was part of the ABR crowd, but that is over. The last one standing on the GOP is still far closer to my beliefs than obama.
I will vote him rather than behave like some bitter, whiny b*tch like some people.

The bottom line is: there is no major race where more than two candidates have any practical chance of winning. For President and all the Senate races, the winner will be one or the other. There is no third party or “none of the above” option that will have the slightest effect on anything, now or going forward.

Those unwilling to take a side now must realize that if their intent is to “send a message,” it is received. But the message, loud and clear, is you are a fringe voter who cannot be relied upon as an ally even if you participate in our party’s primary processes. Unless you win, you will desert us, so there is no point in welcoming or wooing you into our process. Better to disregard your presence altogether. You are only a distraction and an annoyance.

Now will the party bosses admit they jumped the gun and threw im under the bus and give him some money?? Not a penny to RNC from me until they do . if MO is lost it will be arrogant Reince’s Cornyn’s fault .

You certainly like to twist and turn things around a lot. It seems that your main focus here is to try to demoralize people by denigrating our candidate.
Your behavior in that vein is becoming tiresome and trite.

Solaratov on September 25, 2012 at 11:02 PM

Like I said, the guy should have been vetted in the primary… Now you got voters that have no idea who he is. They will not be pleased when they vote for him and he turns out different than what he is being sold as.

The whiplash voting will continue until we likely get a conservative in office.

To those of you who are still bound and determined to not support Akin, I have two words for you: John Roberts. We need every last anti-Obamacare vote we can muster up in the Senate. Including Akin’s!

Sir Rants-A-Lot on September 25, 2012 at 11:05 PM

I said from the beginning of this mess that the GOP was stupid to burn all their bridges to Akin. I believed him when he said he was staying in the race. To burn him for heresy for making an uneducated comment (yes, it was stupid, OK, but not even half as stupid as what comes out of Biden’s pie-hole) was a knee-jerk-don’t-blame-me reaction to appease the media. Well, here’s a hint GOP: The media hates you anyway…get over it. He will be a reliably conservative vote in the Senate and if Turdboy gets reelected we are certainly going to need it.

It’s not a matter of “believing” him. He should have gotten out. It would have been best for the state if he had gotten out. It would be best for the issues he cares about if he had gotten out. He was too stubborn and self-centered to see that. I have not supported him and will not support him because he is a fool and not deserving of the office he seeks. I will not let anyone bully me into supporting him simply because he successfully ran out the clock.

But the message, loud and clear, is you are a fringe voter who cannot be relied upon as an ally even if you participate in our party’s primary processes.

Adjoran on September 26, 2012 at 12:16 AM

The primary process is flawed. We need a runoff rule where no candidate receives 50% of the vote in a primary. Had that happened, this debacle would not, because there is no way Akin could have gotten the support of a majority of Missourians.

The lesson isn’t always the one you wish had been learned, but thanks for your drive-by political advice.